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Power of Love or Love of Power?

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.Jimmi Hendrix

The way I see it, power is all about control. Love is all about losing control.

God’s love for us is the primary force behind Creation and the fountain of mankind’s nobility is free will. Which in a funny sort of way means that God gave up “control” and in a sense, put it in our own hands. We are not brute animals, controlled, lashed or beaten by God throughout our lives but instead are guided lovingly by His manifestations, through intermittent divine revelations. And yet, whether we realize it or not, we always have the freedom to choose our reactions, behavior, speech… our very lives.

You and I may not be covetous of power in the meaning that we want to rule a country or take over the world. But in our own way we each choose, moment to moment, to either let go and love; or grab on to gain and maintain control and therefore, power. Lord knows I could sure use less of the latter and a heaping spoonful of the former.

Here’s the curious thing, when your power to love overcomes your love of power, something magical happens. People are drawn to you. You become a beacon, attracting others as if magnetized. They may not even know why but they sense something in you that others lack. Look at the example in the life and person of Abdu’l-Baha. Even as desiring no rank nor station beyond that of servitude, Abdu’l-Baha was so loved, revered and respected by all people.